Exemplary embodiments herein relate to illumination inside vehicles, and more particularly, relate to a vehicle illumination assembly for illuminating a recess, such as a cup holder recess.
At present, there are generally three ways that ambient light is provided to illuminate a cup holder in a vehicle. One such arrangement is to provide an overhead ambient light source, such as a LED, that provides a cone of light over the cup holder area. Another arrangement involves using a light source, such as one or more LEDs, disposed on a side of the cup holder. An aperture can be defined in the side wall to allow light from the light source to enter the recess defined by the cup holder. Still another arrangement includes using a light guide or light pipe ring disposed around a top rim of the cup holder to provide a ring of illumination.
One problem with using an overhead ambient light source is that it is often difficult to provide enough light for the cup holders. In addition, the target area can be difficult to hit. Still further, there is usually an excess amount of light hitting other areas around the cup holder. That is, it is difficult to focus the light on only a cup holder area. The problem with placing a light source on a side of the cup holder is that the light source typically provides light in only a limited area and such illumination is not very uniform. Lack of illumination is also associated with the use of a cup holder ring as this tends to illuminate only the ring of the cup holder and does not provide enough light to see into the recess or recesses defined by the cup holder.